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1 week ago | 
belfasttelegraph.co.uk | Fionola Meredith
Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh is accused of a terrorism offence: displaying a flag in support of proscribed organisation Hezbollah at a London gig. There were surreal scenes this week outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court when Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh — aka Mo Chara of the Irish language rap group Kneecap — arrived together with his two band mates, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí. An excited crowd waved flags, variously proclaiming “Free Speech”, “Free Palestine” and “Free Mo Chara”.
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3 weeks ago | 
independent.ie | Fionola Meredith
Fionola Meredith: I interviewed Iris Robinson in her pomp... but the mask only slipped when I turned off the recorderFormer DUP MP Iris Robinson during a TV interview in 2007Revisiting the Iris Robinson scandal took me back to a different time in my life. A new BBC documentary, Hold The Front Page: Investigating Iris Robinson, aired this week.
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3 weeks ago | 
belfasttelegraph.co.uk | Fionola Meredith
Revisiting the Iris Robinson scandal took me back to a different time in my life. A new BBC documentary, Hold The Front Page: Investigating Iris Robinson, aired this week. It was a retrospective look at the extraordinary Spotlight probe that ultimately toppled Iris’s husband, First Minister Peter Robinson, from power, and sent Iris to the political wilderness, from which she has never re-emerged.
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4 weeks ago | 
belfasttelegraph.co.uk | Fionola Meredith
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1 month ago | 
belfasttelegraph.co.uk | Fionola Meredith
Daily Headlines Newsletter Receive today's headlines directly to your inbox every morning and evening Please check your inbox to verify your details
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1 month ago | 
belfasttelegraph.co.uk | Fionola Meredith
If you’ve been passing through Belfast city centre recently, near the back of City Hall, you might have noticed a large portrait of a benign, pleasant-looking old man in period dress, raising a cup of hot chocolate. It has appeared as part of the branding of the Bedford, a new multi-million-pound luxury boutique hotel on the corner of Donegall Square South. The Bedford will open in October, on the site of what was previously to become the George Best hotel.
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1 month ago | 
belfasttelegraph.co.uk | Fionola Meredith
Martyrs Memorial Free Presbyterian Church on the Ravenhill Road, Belfast, is just around the corner from where I live — so, naturally, I take a passing interest in what’s going on there. We’re practically neighbours, after all. Last Sunday, during the Belfast City Marathon, a giant blue banner was draped across the front of the church, reminding everyone to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
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1 month ago | 
belfasttelegraph.co.uk | Fionola Meredith
Repatriation of human remains to Hawaii carried out with respect and sensitivity We are all too aware of our history here. Which means that when something about our past is revealed that provokes genuine surprise, it seems especially striking. That was the case when I read this week about the Ulster Museum’s repatriation of human remains to Hawaii.
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2 months ago | 
belfasttelegraph.co.uk | Fionola Meredith
Daily Headlines Newsletter Receive today's headlines directly to your inbox every morning and evening Please check your inbox to verify your details
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2 months ago | 
belfasttelegraph.co.uk | Fionola Meredith
Senator George Mitchell has given a lot of his life to Northern Ireland. No one can doubt the energy, commitment and patience the American mediator brought to negotiating the historic peace deal in 1998. Now aged 91, and in ill health for the past number of years, Senator Mitchell came back to Belfast this week to give a talk to young people at Queen’s University, where he is chancellor emeritus.
